Riker's Christmas Carol
by Daniel Fielder
Summary: When Jean-Luc Picard is visited by the spirit of his old business partner, Dukat, he must change his ways or be condemned. Yes, this is another Christmas Carol fic.
1. Dukat's Ghost

Another Star Trek-Disney mash-up, and this time, a certain French captain is the hero.

Disclaimer: Mickey's Christmas Carol belongs to Walt Disney, and Star Trek belongs to Paramount, Gene Roddenberry, and J.J. Abrams.

* * *

 **Riker's Christmas Carol**

Chapter 1: Dukat's Ghost

In San Francisco, on Christmas Eve, the stingiest man in town, Jean-Luc Picard, walked down the street. There was no Christmas cheer in his heart though. Picard hated the whole idea of Christmas. As he walked, he passed a homeless man as he outstretched his hand.

"Give a penny for the poor sir." The man said. "Penny for the poor."

"Bah." Picard said simply before continuing to his counting house, Picard & Dukat. Picard never bothered to paint out Dukat's name.

"My partner Skrain Dukat." Picard said calmly. "Dead seven years today. He was a good businessman. He robbed from the widows and swindled the poor."

Picard looked at the sign and smirked.

"In his will he left me enough money for his tombstone, and I had him buried at sea." Picard chuckled to himself.

()()()()()

Inside the store, Picard's bookman, William Riker, was about to put a thing of coal in the fire while Picard was out when he came in.

"Oh... Uh..." Will said nervously. "Good morning Mr. Picard."

"Riker, what are you doing with that piece of coal?!" Picard asked angrily.

"I was just trying to thaw out the ink, sir." Will said timidly as he pointed to the ice covered ink quill.

"You used a piece last week!" Picard snapped as he grabbed the coal and tossed it in a bucket. "Now get on with your work, Riker!"

"Speaking of work Mr. Picard tomorrow is Christmas, and I was wondering if I could have... Half the day off?"

"Christmas." Picard spat angrily as he thought. "Mm... Oh, I suppose so, but I'll dock you half a day's pay. Now let's see... I pay you two dollars a day."

"Uh, two dollars and a quarter, sir." Will corrected.

"Oh right." Picard said. "I gave you that raise three years ago."

"Yes sir." Riker said. "When I started doing your laundry."

"Alright Riker, get busy while I go over my books, oh and I've got another bundle of shirts for you." Picard said as he tossed a moderately large laundry bag at Will.

"Yes sir." Will said quickly.

Picard then sat down and went over his notes as a large amount of money sat in front of him.

"Now let's see..." Picard mused. "One hundred and twelve dollars from McCoy, plus his eighty-percent interest, compounded daily..."

Picard laughed as he played a little with a few coins.

"Money, money, money."

Then the door opened, and Picard's nephew and only living relative, James Kirk came in.

"Merry Christmas!" Jim called out.

"And a merry Christmas to you, Jim." Will said as he took a break from his books to talk to Jim.

"Bah humbug." Picard muttered.

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Jean-Luc!" Jim called out with a smile.

"What's so merry about it?" Picard asked moodily. "I'll tell you what Christmas is, it's just another work day, and any jackanapes who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding!"

"Ew." Jim remarked.

"But sir Christmas is a time for giving." Will said quickly. "A time to be with one's family."

"I say 'Bah humbug.'" Picard said stubbornly.

"I don't care!" Jim called out. "I say 'Merry Christmas!'"

"Well said Jim!" Will called out as he applauded.

"Riker, what are you doing?!" Picard asked angrily.

"Uh..." Will said nervously as he stopped clapping. "Just trying to keep my hands warm, sir."

"And what are you doing here, Nephew?" Picard asked testily.

"I've come to give you a reef and invite you to Christmas dinner." Jim said as he handed Picard the reef.

"Well..." Picard said with a smile. "I suppose you're going to have plump goose with chestnut dressing?"

"Yup." Jim confirmed.

"And will you have plum pudding and lemon sauce?" Picard continued.

"Oh yeah!" Jim said with a widening smile.

"And spiced sugar cakes with candied fruit?" Picard finished.

"Yes!" Jim said excitedly. "Yes! Will you come?"

"Are you insane?" Picard snapped. "You know I can't eat that stuff, now get out!"

"Alright." Jim said as he put the reef on the door. "Merry Christmas!"

"And a bah humbug to you!" Picard shouted back, but Jim had already left.

"That Jim." Will said with a chuckle. "Always so full of kindness."

"Yeah." Picard said. "He always was a little peculiar." The door opened again. "And stubborn!"

Instead of Jim, a very slim Indian man was there with a plump man with brown hair walked in.

"Oh, customers." Picard said with an excited smile. "I'll handle this, Riker."

Picard then walked up to the two.

"Yes, what can I do for you two gentlemen?" Picard asked.

"Sir, I'm Julian Bashir, and this is my associate, Miles O'Brien." Mr. Bashir said. "We are soliciting funds for the impudent and destitute."

"For the what?" Picard asked.

"We're collecting money for the poor." Miles translated.

"Oh..." Picard said. "Well, you do realize that if you give money to the poor, they won't be poor anymore."

"Well that's true." Miles said.

"And if they're not poor anymore, then you won't have to raise money for them anymore." Merlyn went on, putting on a concerned front.

"Well, I suppose." Mr. Bashir admitted.

"And if you don't have to raise money for them anymore, then you would be out of a job." Picard said as he opened the door, and the two walked out. "Oh please gentlemen, don't ask me to put you out of a job, not on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, we'd never do that, Mr. Picard." Mr. Bashir said.

"Well then," Picard finished, going back to his normal manner at once. "I suggest you give this to the poor and be gone!"

He tossed the wreath Jim had given him at Miles who caught it reflexively and slammed the door in their faces.

"What's this world coming to, Riker?" Picard asked as Will turned to listen. "You work all your life to get money, and people want you to give it away."

()()()()()

As the day came to its end, Will used a nearby lamp to keep himself warm, which wasn't too easy. He then glanced over at the clock and smiled when he saw that it was only fifteen seconds until quitting time. Finishing up his last sentence, he closed the book and got ready to head home.

"Two minutes fast." Picard remarked as Will gulped and was about to get back to work when Picard stopped him. "Eh, never mind those two minutes. You can go now."

"Thank you, sir!" Will said as he hopped down. "You're so kind-"

"Never mind the mushy stuff!" Picard shouted. "Just go, but be here all the earlier the next afternoon!"

"I will!" Will said excitedly. "I will sir, and a bah hum- I mean, a merry Christmas to you sir!"

Will then picked up the bag of Picard's shirts and walked off as all Picard said in reply was, "Bah."

()()()()()

At nine at night, Picard closed up the counting house and walked off to his house, which had once belonged to Dukat. As Picard unlocked the door, he looked at the knocker just as it turned into Dukat's face.

"Picard..." Dukat said in an eerie voice.

"Dukat?" Picard asked in shock. "No, that can't be!"

Thinking he was just wearied from a good day's work, he touched the knocker's nose, and exclaimed in a way that frightened Picard so badly, he ran into the house. After catching his breath, he put what had happened off as stress with all the fools he had to deal with that day. He then began to walk upstairs when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He turned, but no one was there. He went on, and again he heard the footsteps. He turned around again, but still no one was there. He looked down from the stairway, but nothing was there either. He walked on when he heard the footsteps for a third time and turned to see a shadow of a Cardassian with the profile of Dukat. Picard shouted in shock and terror and rushed to his living room, bolting the door and hiding in his seat.

"Jean-Luc Picard..." Dukat's voice called out from the other side of the door.

"GO AWAY!" Picard shouted as a blue-white, transparent version of Dukat walked in. Aside from his usually military attire, Dukat also wore a long chain with cash boxes and safes attached to it.

"Jean-Luc Pic-AHH!" Strange explained as he tripped on a lose rug and ended up landing right next to his chair.

"A bit more hazardous here than I remember." Dukat said calmly as he got up and looked at Picard, apparently noticing a look of terror.

"Picard, don't you recognize me?" Dukat asked. "In life I was your partner, Skrain Dukat."

Picard hadn't wanted to believe it, but looking at Dukat's face, he was forced to, and that actually helped to calm him down a little.

"Dukat, it is you." Picard said as his eyes widened.

"Jean-Luc," Dukat said as he stood straight up. "Remember when I was alive, I robbed the widows and swindled the poor?"

"Yes, and all on the same day." Picard said with a smile at the memories. "Oh, you had class Dukat."

"Yup." Dukat said with a smug look before shaking his head. "Wait, no! No! I was wrong, and so as punishment, I'm forced to carry these chains for eternity! ... Maybe even longer. With no hope. I'm doomed! Doomed!"

Dukat then turned his face to Picard.

"And the same thing will happen to you, Jean-Luc Picard."

"No!" Picard gasped in fear as he recoiled from the chains that were close by his chair. "No it can't! It mustn't! Help me, Dukat!"

"Tonight, you will be visited by three spirits." Dukat informed Picard. "Listen to them, and do what they say, or your chains will be heavier than mine."

Picard agreed nervously as he turned nervously around.

"Farewell Jean-Luc..." Dukat called out as he walked back, making sure to be mindful of the rug. "Farewell . . ."

"Strange!" Picard called out as he remembered something about the stairway. "Watch out for that first-"

There were several loud screams and grunts as Dukat's ghost fell down the stairs.

"Step." Picard finished before going off to bed.

* * *

Spooky, huh?


	2. The First of the Spirits

Chapter Two: The First of the Spirits

That night, Picard searched his room all over with a candle before putting it on the table.

"Spirits." He scoffed. He'd obviously been stressed as he got into bed and blew out his candle. "Humbug!"

Picard then went to sleep without undressing.

()()()()()

As Picard slept, a young Vulcan male walked up. His hair was black, and he was dressed in what the Vulcans of the 23rd century would call casual. He starred at the fireplace, and the fire came on. He then rang the bell on the clock, which read two o'clock, but Picard continued sleeping.

"Hm." The Vulcan mused. He rang the bell again, and Picard got up.

"Oh, what?" Picard asked.

"Well it's about time." The Vulcan said. "We haven't got all night, you know."

"Who... Who are you?" Picard asked in surprise.

"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." The Vulcan said. "You can call me Spock for short."

"I would think someone like you would look a little older." Picard observed.

"Well Jean-Luc, if men were aged by kindness, you'd be no older than a new-born child." Spock retorted calmly.

"Kindness is of little use in this world." Jean-Luc said as he prepared to go back to sleep.

"You didn't always think so." Spock said. "Come on, Jean-Luc, it's time to go."

"Then go." Picard said agitatedly when Spock walked to a window, and opened it.

"Spock!" Picard called out in alarm. "What are you doing?!"

"We're going to visit your past." Spock explained.

"I'm not going out there." Picard countered. "I'll fall."

"Take my hand, and you'll be lifted." Spock said, as Picard apprehensively took Spock's hand, and they were flying above Paris in an instant, having a wild ride.

()()()()()

They stopped at a small shop.

"Spock, I think I know this place." Picard mused. "Yes! It's old Hikaru Sulu's! I couldn't have worked for a kinder man."

Inside the shop, Sulu, alive again, was dancing with his husband and several others.

"Why it's old Sulu himself!" Picard exclaimed. "And all of my very dearest friends!"

Picard then turned to a shy boy who looked very slim.

"And that shy boy in the corner, that's me." Picard remarked.

"Yes." Spock said. "Before you became a miserable miser consumed by greed."

"Well nobody's perfect." Picard defended before looking at a red haired girl with green eyes. "There she is. There's lovely Beverly."

()()()()()

Beverly walked up to the younger Jean-Luc.

"Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked. "Jean-Luc."

"Yes, Beverly?" Jean-Luc asked nervously as Beverly pulled him under the mistletoe.

"My eyes are closed, my lips are puckered, and I'm standing under the mistletoe." Beverly said.

"You're also standing on my foot." Jean-Luc pointed out before Beverly chuckled, and they began dancing with everybody as Malcolm smiled. The dance ended with Beverly kissing Jean-Luc's cheek, and his mind went to mush.

()()()()()

"Oh, I remember how much I was in love with her." Picard said nostalgically when there was a sudden wind, and the entire area became darkened.

"In ten years' time, you learned to love something else." Spock said as Picard looked around and found himself in a very familiar place.

"It's my counting house!" Picard said in surprise.

"Yes." Spock said. "You had just formed your partnership with Dukat. Your business was new, but your ways were set."

"Oh, please!" Picard said as he suddenly remembered the day. "Spare me the rest!"

"You have to drain the cup to the dregs for this trip to do good." Spock said. "Recall how you drove love from your heart and replaced it with the worship of money."

()()()()()

"Nine-thousand four-hundred and forty two." Jean-Luc said as he put a coin on top of a large pile from several foreclosures and debt payments. "Nine-thou-"

"Jean-Luc?" Beverly asked from behind the pile of coins.

"Yes, what is it?" Jean-Luc asked.

"For years I've had the honeymoon cottage Jean-Luc." Beverly said. "I've been waiting for you to keep your promise to marry me. Now I must know; have you made your decision?"

"I have!" Jean-Luc said finally as he pulled out the mortgage paper of the cottage. "Your last payment on the cottage was an hour late! I'm foreclosing the mortgage!"

()()()()()

Picard watched Beverly burst into tears and walk away.

Go after her you young fool! Picard called out angrily at his past self.

"You loved your money more than that precious girl, and you lost her forever." Spock reminded him as a look of anger crossed Beverly's face as she closed the door, causing the pile of gold to crash down on the table.

"Please spirit." Picard moaned. "I can no longer bare these memories. Take me home."

"Remember Jean-Luc." Spock said as the scene, and Spock, was beginning to fade away. "You fashioned these memories yourself..."

* * *

Wow. Talk about a dumb choice, huh?


	3. The Second of the Spirits

Chapter Three: The Second of the Spirits

Back on Picard's own bed, he still brooded about his mistakes.

"Why was I so foolish?" Picard asked himself. "Why? Why?"

Suddenly, a light shone in through his curtains, and he looked on in surprise.

"What's this?" Picard asked as he looked through the curtains to see a shaved black man in a black and gray outfit with a red collar.

"Hello." The man said.

Picard quickly closed the curtains, and when he opened them again, he was still there.

"Hello again." The man said again.

"Please, let me go!" Picard called out in fear. "Don't hurt me!"

"Why would the Ghost of Christmas Present, that's me, you can call me Benjamin, hurt a distasteful little miser like you, especially when there are so many good things to enjoy in life?"

Picard came out, and he then noticed that the room was full of food.

"Oh..." Picard said in awe. "Mince pies. Turkeys. Suckling pig. But where did all this come from?" Picard asked.

"From the heart, Jean-Luc." Benjamin explained. "It's the food of generosity which you have long denied your fellow man."

"Generosity?!" Picard asked angrily. "Nobody's ever shown me generosity!"

"You've never given them reason to." Benjamin explained calmly. "And yet, there are those who still find enough warmth in their hearts even for the likes of you."

"No acquaintance of mine." Picard said coldly. "I assure you."

"Oh, you'll see." Benjamin said as he took Picard's hand, and walked out, trying to find the right house.

()()()()()

Eventually, Benjamin stopped and showed Picard an old, extremely modest farm.

"Here we are." Benjamin said calmly.

"Why did you bring me to this old shack?" Picard asked.

"This is the home of your overworked, underpaid employee, Will Riker." Benjamin said, pushing Picard up close to the window.

Picard looked in the window and found a brown-haired woman, who could only be Riker's wife, cooking an extremely small bird.

"What's she cooking, a canary?" Picard asked rhetorically. "Surely they have more food than that. Look on the fire."

"That's your laundry." Benjamin pointed out as they looked at a bubbling pot.

()()()()()

Inside the Riker home, Will's middle child, Tommy, was trying to get at his presents, only to be stopped by his oldest child, Natasha. She looked perfectly like her mother, though younger.

"Oh, I don't think so." Natasha said with a smile as she picked the eight-year-old up.

"Now kids, we've gotta wait for Joshua." Riker said calmly.

"Daddy." Riker's youngest son, a black haired four-year-old named Joshua, said. "I'm coming, Daddy."

Riker walked up quickly to his son, hobbling down the steps on his cane, as Riker picked him up.

"Hey little buddy." Riker said as he set Joshua down while Natasha helped Riker's wife, Deanna, set Tommy down as well.

"Wow, look at all the wonderful things to eat!" Joshua said excitedly. "We must thank Mr. Picard."

"Right." Riker said kindly. "To my employer, Mr. Picard, the founder of the feast."

"'Feast' indeed." Deanna said sadly, so only Riker could hear. "With a goose barely bigger than a canary."

"Come on Deanna, it's Christmas." Riker said kindly.

"Oh alright." Deanna said. "To Mr. Picard."

Joshua smiled. Then, seeing that his father only had a little bit of goose, he offered Riker his piece, but Riker kindly refused and hugged his son.

()()()()()

"Tell me, Benjamin." Picard said with a pain in his heart, he'd never felt before. "What's wrong with that kind boy?"

"Much, I'm afraid." Benjamin said. "If these shadows remain unchanged, all I can see is an empty chair where Little Joshua Riker once sat and a little crutch without an owner carefully preserved."

"Then that means..." Picard said weakly. "Joshua will..."

Picard turned around, and Benjamin had completely disappeared.

"Benjamin, where are you?!" Picard called out. "Don't go! You must tell me about Joshua! Don't go!"

Suddenly, an odd black fog covered his vision as Picard coughed and when the fog cleared, he found himself in a graveyard.

"How did I-?" Picard began before looking up and his eyes widened in fear. "Who... Who are you?"

* * *

Aw, poor Joshua.


	4. The Last of the Spirits

Chapter Four: The Last of the Spirits

The figure that Picard saw was dressed all in black. The figure was a slim, bald female humanoid with an extremely pale complexion and mechanical tubes coming out of the back of her head like a bun of hair, and she stood over Picard, draping him in the figure's shadow.

"Are you the ghost of Christmas Future?" Picard asked.

The spirit nodded its head.

"Please speak to me." Picard requested. "What will happen to Joshua Riker?"

The spirit pointed several feet away where the Riker family was. Deanna was standing there solemnly as she comforted Tommy, and Natasha stood there as well with tears streaming down her face. As they walked off, Riker stayed, holding the little crutch Joshua had used, clutching it tight, and a tear of his own falling down his face. He then set it near the tombstone and sprinkled some dirt on the grave as Picard understood what had happened.

"Oh no, dear heaven let it not be." Picard said as he felt for his poor clerk. "Spirit, I didn't mean for this to happen. Tell me these events can still be changed."

Suddenly, he heard two men laughing. One had dark brown hair and very young and moderately muscular while the other had black hair, a rather plain face and middle-aged.

"I've never seen a funeral like this before." The man with dark brown hair said.

"Yeah." His friend said. "No mourners. No friends to bid him farewell."

"Oh well." The first man said. "Let's rest a minute before we fill it in. He's not going anywhere."

They walked off as Picard and the spirit approached the grave.

"Whose lonely grave is this?" Picard asked nervously as the spirit pointed down, and Picard read on the tombstone his own name, "Jean-Luc Picard."

"Why yours, Jean-Luc." The spirit said with a wicked grin. "The richest man in the cemetery!"

The spirit pushed Picard in as he grabbed a tree root for dear life as the spirit only stood there smirking. When Picard looked down, the coffin opened, and red hot fire was spilling out of it.

"Oh no!" Picard called out. "No!"

Picard suddenly lost his grip on the root and fell into the coffin while the spirit laughed, and Picard screamed, "I'll change! I'LL CHANGE...!"

Then, all was darkness.

* * *

Well that was short sweet, and terrifying.


	5. The End of It

Chapter Five: The End of It

Picard was on a hard surface as he struggled with a dark object covering him.

"Spirit!" Picard shouted out. "Spirit, let me out! I'll... Huh?"

Picard opened his eyes and saw that he was on the floor of his own room, with the sun shining in.

"Why I'm back in my own room." Picard said in surprise. He then looked outside and gasped in honest surprise. "Christmas morning! I haven't missed it! The spirits have given me another chance!"

Picard quickly changed into another suit.

"I know just what I'll do!" Picard said with a smile in his eyes. "They'll be so surprised."

()()()()()

Miles and Bashir were looking at children play when a very familiar figure appeared.

"Merry Christmas to one and all!" Picard cried out as he walked up. "Hello, gentlemen. I'm sorry about what happened; allow me to make it up to you with this."

Picard handed Miles a bag of two hundred dollars.

"Two hundred dollars?" Bashir said in awe.

"Not a penny less." Picard said with a smile. "I hope to see you again next year. Merry Christmas."

"Thanks sir." Miles said. "And a very merry Christmas to you too."

()()()()()

As Picard walked around, he bumped into Beverly, hardly aged by time and still being as lovely as when they first met all those years ago.

"Hey Beverly." Picard said.

"Jean-Luc." Beverly said.

"Merry Christmas." Picard said.

"... Merry Christmas." Beverly said with a smile.

()()()()()

All that day, Picard said "Merry Christmas" to everyone he saw, and some were shocked while others smiled and said it back. On the road, Picard ran into Jim and his wife, Carol.

"Ah, Jim." Picard said with a smile.

"Uncle Jean-Luc?" Jim asked blankly.

"I'm looking forward to that wonderful meal of yours." Picard went on as his heart felt ten sizes bigger seeing the look of surprise and joy on Jim's face.

"You mean you're coming?!" Jim asked.

"Of course." Picard went on. "You know how much I love candied fruits with spiced sugar cakes. I'll be over promptly at two. Keep it piping hot, and I'm looking forward to meeting you too, dear."

"I will Uncle Jean-Luc!" Jim called out. "And a very merry Christmas to you!"

"That's your uncle who was so moody?" Carol asked.

"I guess he had a change of heart." Jim said with a smile.

()()()()()

"Merry Christmas, and keep the change." Picard said as he gave the clerk the payment for his bundle and walked out as three little children passed by, playing.

"Wonderful lads." Picard said kindly. "And now for Riker."

Picard arrived at Riker's house and knocked on the door, struggling to keep the stern face he'd had the previous day. Riker opened the door and starred.

"Why Mr. Picard!" Riker said in surprise. "Merry Christmas. Won't you come in?"

Picard entered and walked inside. The place was just like it was when he visited the previous night, save the fact that the table had been cleaned up.

"Merry Christmas." Picard grunted. "I've got another bundle for you."

"But sir, it's Christmas day." Riker said.

"Christmas." Picard went on. "Just another excuse for being lazy. And another thing, Riker. I've had enough of this half-day off stuff! You leave me no alternative but to give you-"

"Toys!" Joshua called out as he opened the bundle and found the toys Picard had bought for Joshua, and his older siblings.

"Yes toys." Picard said. "No, no, no. I mean to say, I'm giving you a raise and making you my partner."

"A partner?!" Riker said excitedly as Deanna pulled out the biggest goose Picard could find, and they all starred at it. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Picard."

"Merry Christmas, Will." Picard said as he lifted Joshua, holding a teddy bear, up.

"And God bless us, everyone." Joshua observed.

Tommy then played with his new toys next to Picard as he sat in a rocking chair while Riker, Deanna, and Natasha watched on happily. This was indeed the first of many merry Christmases with Jean-Luc Picard and Joshua, who with Picard's help got better.

* * *

Hooray Picard!


End file.
